Ezekiel 25:3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity
It is always interesting to see how people respond to calamities in the world, whether it is a wildfire, a war, or some other tragedy that involves a group of people. Oftentimes you see those tragedies and feel great compassion. Sometimes you see those tragedies and think to yourself, “They were asking for it. They had it coming.” That may be true, but this is just a larger version of something all of us tend to do at times; we rejoice in the calamity of other people. Someone gets in trouble in some way and our first instinct is to think, “Wow, I am glad they finally got what was coming to them.”
We can all be thankful God is a righteous judge and will judge sin. The problem is we often see the sins of others, but we rarely see the sins in our own lives. When God judged His own people, there were a number of nations surrounding Judah that took great delight in what God was doing in judgment against His people. The consequence was that God judged those who were grateful or gleeful about His judgment on His own people. You see, those who rejoice in the judgment of God on His own people invite judgment on themselves.
Ezekiel 25:3-4a says, “And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east…” God is saying, “Because you were gleeful at My judgment on My own people, that judgment is going to come upon you.” Verse 6 says, “Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel…I will stretch out my hand upon thee.” They were gleeful in their spite against Israel.
He gives judgment upon Moab and Seir for doing similar things. Some of these nations actually took sides with the conquerors of God’s people. They took vengeance in verse 12, and in verse 14 God says, “I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel.” Verses 15-16 say, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with the despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; therefore thus saith the Lord GOD…I will stretch out my hand upon the Philistines.”
So, you have people who found joy, people who felt disdain, people who had a vengeful heart. None of them was glad God was restoring and correcting His people to bring them back into a right relationship to Him. They were just glad Israel was suffering. Sometimes I can find myself in the same position. The reason we invite God’s judgment upon ourselves when we rejoice in God’s judgment against His own people is because pride prevents us from learning from the calamity of others. When I am joyful that someone else is being judged, I’m not stopping to think about what that should mean in my life. I’m just glad it is happening in their life.
In Luke 13 there were those who told Jesus of some great calamity and perhaps thought they were better than those who suffered this calamity. Jesus answered, “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans [the victims] were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” When you look at the judgment of God on others, the first thing in your mind should be, “How am I in my relationship to God?” Galatians 6:1 says, specifically about God’s own people, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Pride prevents us from learning through the calamity of others and puts us in the same position that brought the judgment of God in the first place.
How about you? When you look at others, are you gleeful and joyful that God is judging them? Or are you learning from life by learning from the calamity of others and the actions of God in the world that we inhabit.